Opinion + World Cup 2006 | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+football/worldcup2006
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Gavyn Davies: Is there an answer to our penalty woes?https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/13/worldcup2006.comment
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/13/worldcup2006.comment">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupWed, 12 Jul 2006 23:11:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/13/worldcup2006.commentGavyn Davies2006-07-12T23:11:23ZMarcel Berlins: We take insults seriously down in Marseillehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/12/worldcup2006.comment
<p>But have you noticed the crucial common factor between the two footballing perpetrators? Yup, both born in Marseille. As indeed was I. We're pretty touchy down there. We take insults seriously, all the more so if they touch on family honour. We - Eric, Zizou and I - retaliate, we hit out, we avenge. I admit I haven't done any of those recently, perhaps due to a lack of insults coming my way (none, to be exact). But the Marseillais spirit still lurks in me, as I realised when watching the game in my small Provençal village, not all that far from my native city. When Zidane performed his unusual head-butt, (aimed at his opponent's chest rather than his nose and forehead, as in the more traditional "Glasgow Kiss") it was obvious that the Italian must have seriously provoked him (though none of us knew how). My first thought was not, as it should have been, "stupid Zidane", but, "I wonder what Materazzi did."</p><p>The reaction in France, both in my tiny southern corner and in the national press, has been much the same: severely critical of what he did (the word unpardonable appears often), very sad that his career has ended in that ignominious way, angry with the provocative Italian, but determined to remember and praise him for his past achievements. It was an emotional front-page editorial in the sporting daily L'Equipe that raised the issue that the rest of the press mostly ignored. The most difficult thing, it said, addressing Zidane directly, was not to try to understand why the team lost the game, but "to explain to tens of millions of children all over the world how you could have let yourself strike Marco Materazzi with that head-butt ..." That's the question that matters most: what do we tell the children?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/12/worldcup2006.comment">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupTue, 11 Jul 2006 23:10:54 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/12/worldcup2006.commentMarcel Berlins2006-07-11T23:10:54ZNaima Bouteldja: 'Zizou is still one of us'https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/11/comment.worldcup2006
The butt that ended his career will never dilute Zidane's iconic status for the 'scum' of the suburbs<p>But what Marco Materazzi said clearly did matter to Zidane. The speculation yesterday was that he may have insulted Zidane's family or made some kind of racial slur. If the latter, it would hardly be a shock. Racism in football has a long history and, despite campaigns such as Kick it Out, remains ingrained in the beautiful game. Think of the monkey chants directed at England's black players in Spain, after the description of Thierry Henry by Spain's coach, Luis Aragonés, as a "black shit"; Paolo Di Canio's fascist salute in Italy; or, in Britain, Ron Atkinson's vicious racist jibe at Marcel Desailly.</p><p>The question is not what made Zidane throw away the final chapter of his career, but why he has become such an iconic figure around the world, in particular in his country of birth. The politics of race and football in France are particularly revealing of French society. The predominantly African make-up of the French team and its unimpressive early World Cup performances had the National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, fuming at the French coach, Raymond Domenech, for having "exaggerated the proportion of players of colour" in the team. Le Pen claimed that they did not show enough passion when singing the Marseillaise. To the great disgust of Le Pen, France's only emerging white star of the World Cup, midfielder Franck Ribéry, is a convert to Islam.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/11/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FranceFootballWorld newsEuropeWorld CupMon, 10 Jul 2006 23:13:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/11/comment.worldcup2006Naima Bouteldja2006-07-10T23:13:59ZMaureen Lipman: Less commentary, more footballhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/10/comment.worldcup2006
<p>Or perhaps just for its ugliness. Taken to the very limits of greed, media hysteria, manager-mania, swearing, stamping, diving and post-goal snarling into camera, the professionalism has turned the sport into a different game altogether, the world's oldest profession. Everyone is screwing everyone for the most they can get.</p><p>Perhaps a lesson could be learned: salaries could drop a touch; we could have less reverence for boys just out of school and managers with fingers in too many pies. We might even say goodbye to panel punditry and chronic use of what Jack used to call "the footballer's tense", as in, "So I'm seeing him coming down the wing and I'm thinking, like, I'll clatter him into row Z."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/10/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006Wimbledon 2006FootballWimbledonTennisSportWorld CupSun, 09 Jul 2006 23:14:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/10/comment.worldcup2006Maureen Lipman2006-07-09T23:14:11ZMarcel Berlins: Will England's defeat affect Tony Blair? Nohttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/05/worldcup2006.politics
<p>The combined soccer-and-painting contest was an emphatic 2-0 triumph for France, the football for obvious reasons, the art because, apart from the obvious difference between a painter of genius and one of minor excellence, the Constable exhibition was such an unsatisfying event, for one particular reason. It was, admittedly, the first time that his large canvasses - his six-footers - had been shown next to the equally vast sketches he had made in preparation. As a result, the accompanying labelling was obsessed with pointing out how the final product had developed from the sketches. I felt, after a while, that I was not there to appreciate the artist, merely to spot the differences. At the Cezanne show, one just looked and marvelled. No explanations were needed.</p><p>France's World Cup win over Brazil has clearly, if only temporarily, lifted the cloud of pessimism and morosity that has dominated the nation for so long. But I have difficulty in accepting the theory being peddled that such a joyous event (to be added to if France win the cup) has any effect on the popularity of its politicians. The French are not stupid enough to think that Chirac and De Villepin are somehow responsible for the exploits of Zidane and Henry, and that the beleaguered prime minister will suddenly be seen in a better light as the goals keep coming.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/05/worldcup2006.politics">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006PoliticsFootballWorld CupTue, 04 Jul 2006 23:13:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/05/worldcup2006.politicsMarcel Berlins2006-07-04T23:13:01ZPeter Preston: Referees are only humanhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/03/comment.worldcup2006
In sport, as elsewhere, there will inevitably be errors as long as people act as regulators<p>Does incredible leisurewear, straining at foreshortened crotch or over-bountiful backside, equal authority, though? In no way, when you look deeper. These androids from centre court come to us stripped of any essential authority, mere keepers of simple arithmetic required, at most, to keep score and to tell when it rains. For Hawkeye, the sinister computer of genius, is with them this year, ready to decide any line call beyond contention or histrionics. Their blues and greens are mere outward show. Digital aids, like Andy Murray, rule OK. Personal authority is shot.</p><p>And authority is the deeper theme of this sporting summer. It's been there, inescapably, through every World Cup match. Did Rooney get red for a stamp in Portugal's nether regions or because, yet again, he saw red? Did Thierry Henry take the vital dive that wrecked Spain and so eventually wrecked Brazil? Were British education standards under Blair at fault when one plus one needed to total two in Graham Poll's little book? How many yellow and scarlet cards make nonsense of any game?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/03/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupSun, 02 Jul 2006 23:12:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/03/comment.worldcup2006Peter Preston2006-07-02T23:12:02ZLeader: Floored heroeshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/02/leaders.worldcup2006
<p>To wonder what might have been had England played at full strength, had Wayne Rooney not had a moment of folly and been ejected from the pitch, is scarcely relevant. The determination that galvanised his remaining team-mates was inspirational. Like David Beckham eight years ago, Rooney was the victim of youthful impetuousness. He has much to learn, but he still has a glittering career ahead.</p><p>The consolation, if there can be any, is in the performance that brought us so close to victory. When the squad come back from Germany, for all their flaws, they deserve to be greeted as heroes. We salute them.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/02/leaders.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006SportFootballWorld CupSat, 01 Jul 2006 23:11:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/02/leaders.worldcup2006Leader2006-07-01T23:11:31ZDJ Taylor: A good sporthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/01/comment.worldcup2006
With their diving and professional fouls, are modern footballers betraying the amateur spirit that was the founding principle of the beautiful game?<p>From the resulting free-kick France (inevitably) take the lead, adding another in the closing seconds. In a World Cup tournament already ablaze with accusations of gamesmanship - the repercussions of the Portugal-Holland game in which several players were clearly trying very hard to get their opponents sent off boom lingeringly on - the only consolation comes in the reaction of the ITV commentators. Clive Tyldesley and his stooge are scandalised by what they imagine to have been a deliberate dive. Henry, the cry goes up, should be ashamed of himself. And here, rising above the clotted turf of a German football field steals a scent that one had previously thought all but extinguished from the modern professional game - the Corinthian Spirit.</p><p>Paid huge sums to play a sport - something early Victorian footballers would have thought a contradiction in terms - today's Premiership heroes inhabit a curious professional environment. On the one hand winning is everything, and defeat an excuse for Sir Alex Ferguson to yell four-letter words into your ear in the post-match dressing-room showdown. On the other, ancient concepts of sportsmanship precariously adhere - the player who doesn't kick the ball into touch when someone goes down injured generally provokes outrage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/01/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupFri, 30 Jun 2006 23:13:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/01/comment.worldcup2006DJ Taylor2006-06-30T23:13:11ZNick Afka Thomas: Will youth or experience win the World Cup?https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/29/worldcup2006.comment
Will youth or experience win the World Cup? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/29/worldcup2006.comment">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupWed, 28 Jun 2006 23:12:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/29/worldcup2006.commentNick Afka Thomas2006-06-28T23:12:44ZMike Marqusee: In thrall to St Georgehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/27/comment.britishidentity
England's rush to fly the flag is unmatched elsewhere and reflects an uneasy cultural identity<p>We're not talking about flags at the matches: that's a long-standing tradition, a means of affirming one's loyalty in the face of opponents. But why are so many people eager to let their neighbours know how fervently they support the England team? What's the message being sent here?</p><p>It's said the flag betokens Englishness, that mysterious something we are said to have in common, the larger entity that the 11 guys busting a gut in Germany somehow represent. But it remains difficult to define. England is not a nation-state or significant political unit. And Englishness is a category vague enough to accommodate radically opposed ideas of what being English might be. Crucially, it carries both ethnic and national connotations. (Though the usage is increasingly contested, being "English" is frequently a synonym for being white native-born English.)</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/27/comment.britishidentity">Continue reading...</a>British identity and societyWorld Cup 2006UK newsFootballWorld CupMon, 26 Jun 2006 23:11:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/27/comment.britishidentityMike Marqusee2006-06-26T23:11:55ZRuaridh Nicoll: The 'any-side-but-England' strategy is corrosivehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/25/comment.worldcup2006
<p>The second half had just begun and I lived through the first few minutes thanks to having no accent (a teacher beat it out of me when I was a child). All around were men, big men, with no necks, pierced eyebrows and that menacing good humour that suggests a hard sort of love at first slight.</p><p>'Rooney on?' I asked. 'On now,' replied an older guy who reminded me of the legionnaire in the Sven Hassel books, the one who'd say: 'That's enough lads, leave him one eye.'</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/25/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupSat, 24 Jun 2006 23:11:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/25/comment.worldcup2006Ruaridh Nicoll2006-06-24T23:11:14ZThe beautiful game. No bullhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/24/comment.spain
Spectator sports allow us to be different - louder, braver, nastier or bloodier. It's our choice<p>And the corrida is just the thing for symbolism: laden with traditions of bull worship and sacrifice that bleed right back to ancient Rome, Egypt and Babylonia, then souped up with a heavy overlay of Catholic iconography and sex. During the civil war some republicans thought it dramatised the struggle of the little man, while nationalists felt it displayed the raw power of nature, order, church and state. Today it may be hailed as a picturesque, mystical and highly profitable manifestation of cultural diversity in an everblander world, or condemned as a gory pantomime, as typical of Spain as Franco's brutal smothering of cultural diversity. It's an art to its admirers, and to opponents it's a degrading slaughter. For red-top-loving Brits, it's proof that foreigners are uncivilised and will kill for sport, or throw goats from church towers if you turn your back on them for a moment to buy more chips.</p><p>We judge others by their pastimes, just as surely as ours help us to define ourselves. We are a nation allegedly obsessed by football. This could mean we admire the skills of chirpy workingclass heroes who have bicycle-kicked their way to modest comfort in a warmhearted attempt to entertain and give the nippers something fine to reach for. Or it could be that we worship a grossly commercialised product that is inextricably linked with gang violence and racism, happy to be exploited by rapacious clubs, broadcasters and primadonna players, and even happier that money fails to pass from luxurious topranking grounds into the blighted wastelands that surround them. Things are never simple around sport.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/24/comment.spain">Continue reading...</a>SpainWorld Cup 2006FootballWorld newsEuropeWorld CupFri, 23 Jun 2006 23:14:17 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/24/comment.spainAL Kennedy2006-06-23T23:14:17ZTimothy Garton Ash: There is some corner of a Spanish field that is for ever Beckhamhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/22/comment.worldcup2006
Football unites us more than it divides us, and today's beautiful game channels tribal emotions along peaceful paths<p>What's the political effect of football? Does it stir up belligerent nationalism and xenophobia or contribute to international understanding and world peace? A bit of both, to be sure; but the net effect is positive.</p><p>Everyone knows the downside. There was, for example, the "football war" between Honduras and El Salvador, sparked by World Cup qualifying matches in summer 1969. In his wonderful first-hand account, Ryszard Kapuscinski reports that the Honduran team, after a sleepless night being pelted with rotten eggs, dead rats and stinking rags through the broken windows of their hotel, were transported to the match in armoured cars. "Under such conditions the players from Tegucigalpa did not, understandably, have their minds on the game. They had their minds on getting out alive. 'We're awfully lucky that we lost,' said the visiting coach, Mario Griffin, with relief."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/22/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupWed, 21 Jun 2006 23:11:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/22/comment.worldcup2006Timothy Garton Ash2006-06-21T23:11:20ZCharlie Brooker: Supposing ... robots played in the World Cuphttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/worldcup2006.comment
<p>Ha ha. I'm hilarious. Enough of the lame sarcasm. Yes, I'm a member of the apparent minority that dislikes football most of the time and grows to actively despise it during the World Cup. But this year, I've decided not to moan about it.</p><p>It's quite simple. I've finally realised that loudly and repeatedly complaining that the World Cup is a whopping great pain in the arse ultimately achieves nothing. Us haters can't win. We're either accused of adopting a contrary position for the sake of it, or told to just ignore it (which we can't, because it's bloody everywhere). Sometimes fans yawn and say they're bored by us killjoys moaning about it, even though they can't possibly be as bored as we are, bored with every flag and cheer and news report and rebranded chocolate bar: the kind of boredom that gnaws at your bones till you don't want to live any more. They just don't understand.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/worldcup2006.comment">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupThu, 15 Jun 2006 23:12:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/worldcup2006.commentCharlie Brooker2006-06-15T23:12:46ZMax Hastings: The bung and the blind eye: that's the real world of sporthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/13/comment.worldcup2006
They give pleasure to millions, but the morals of football and racing are now worse than those of the Roman Colosseum<p>Paradoxically, for industries that hinge upon staging public performances, both football and racing are deeply secretive. Each feeds the black economy on a grand scale, though it is not easy to match the story of the club manager whose £45,000 bung on the purchase of an Icelandic player was delivered in cash by a trawler calling at Hull.</p><p>An ardent racing friend of mine, normally of impeccable moral standards, allowed these to drop like boxer shorts when Lester Piggott was convicted of tax evasion. "You can't send Lester to prison," he exclaimed in horror. He added, in a tone usually employed for explaining the realities of sex to a backward teenager: "Don't you understand? That's just how things are done in racing."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/13/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupMon, 12 Jun 2006 23:03:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/13/comment.worldcup2006Max Hastings2006-06-12T23:03:04ZKofi Annan: Football envy at the UNhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/12/comment.worldcup2006
Talent, teamwork and a level playing field - it's no wonder we look up to the World Cup<p>This is an event in which everybody knows where their team stands, and what it did to get there. They know who scored and how and in what minute of the game; they know who saved the penalty. I wish we had more of that sort of competition in the family of nations. Countries vying for the best standing in the table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another in child survival rates or enrolment in secondary education. States parading their performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable.</p><p>Millions of people around the planet love talking about the World Cup. In Paraguay fans will be picking over that own goal; in Japan they will be debating strategies for today's contest with Australia. Everywhere people are dissecting the games, revealing an intimate knowledge of their own teams and many others. Tongue-tied teenagers suddenly become eloquent and dazzlingly analytical. I wish we had more of that sort of conversation in the world at large: citizens consumed by the topic of how their country could do better on the Human Development Index, or exercised about how to reduce carbon emissions or HIV infections.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/12/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupSun, 11 Jun 2006 23:04:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/12/comment.worldcup2006Kofi Annan2006-06-11T23:04:05ZLeader: World Cuphttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/10/worldcup2006.comment
<p>Technology and the shrinking of the globe are part of the answer. In the early days of international football, communication, transport and war frustrated the contest. In 1930 the time and cost of getting to Uruguay for the first tournament was enough to put off all but four European teams. Only Brazil made the reverse Atlantic crossing for both the next two finals. Few fans - even of teams which did take part in early tournaments - could watch the action since TV cameras were not present until 1954. Strained international relations were another problem. England pulled out of Fifa in 1920, not least because competing with countries who it had so recently fought was felt distasteful. It then missed the chance to compete right through to 1950 as the second world war meant that there was no tournament at all during the 1940s.</p><p>Today the Olympics are its only potential rival for global reach. But a string of games leading up to a single final give the World Cup a focus that the Olympics lack. While the most powerful teams are still concentrated in Europe and Latin America, Fifa rules ensure that all parts of the globe are present at the finals. But it is, of course, the nature of the game itself, rather than the design of the competition, that makes it so popular. The rules are easily grasped. Even novice viewers instinctively empathise with the men on the pitch. No special equipment is needed - Pele practiced by kicking a grapefruit - so anyone can play and most people have. Talented youngsters shine where they may struggle to in other walks of life. Developing countries, too, compete on a much more even pitch in football than they can in many other arenas.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/10/worldcup2006.comment">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupFri, 09 Jun 2006 23:03:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/10/worldcup2006.commentLeader2006-06-09T23:03:57ZMark Lawson: Soccer-patriotic gestures by Cameron and Blair is all about political strategyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/09/comment.conservatives
World Cup flag-waving by Cameron, Brown and Blair is all about political strategy, not football<p>As a result, while presidential candidates competitively speak in front of ever-vaster stars and stripes, recent British leaders have tended to think twice before even wearing cuff links in the country's colours.</p><p>These reservations about nationalist declaration are lifted only during royal jubilees and major sporting events, and in the past week the leading contenders for Downing Street - Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron - have all intriguingly used the excuse of the 2006 World Cup to indulge in almost American displays of flag-waving, although - crucially - not red, white and blue but red and white.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/09/comment.conservatives">Continue reading...</a>ConservativesLabourPoliticsWorld Cup 2006FootballUK newsWorld CupThu, 08 Jun 2006 23:03:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/09/comment.conservativesMark Lawson2006-06-08T23:03:47ZFor one month every four years, a new world order leaves America on touchlinehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/world.comment
World Cup victories can boost economies and decide elections - but not in the US<p>But US soccer-related insecurity is political and cultural, too. For four weeks, the world shows its back to the number one nation. The usual hierarchies of power are turned upside-down; the agenda is no longer Washington's to command. It is not often that old enemies, such as Mexico, or relatively new ones, such as Iran, get the chance to "beat" the US. But either may do so in Germany if their teams progress.</p><p>While football has gained in popularity in the US in recent decades, and "soccer moms" have become a key electoral target group, the land of the Super Bowl and the World Series still finds it hard to accept the "beautiful game's" global supremacy. World Cups usually give rise to a spate of newspaper stories reassuring American readers that their national sports still have international appeal.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/world.comment">Continue reading...</a>World newsWorld Cup 2006US newsFootballWorld CupTue, 06 Jun 2006 23:03:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/world.commentSimon Tisdall2006-06-06T23:03:41ZAnnalisa Barbieri: Indifference to the World Cup is good for your mental healthhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/comment.worldcup2006
Indifference to the World Cup is good for your mental health as well as your social life<p>It was as if my entire summer had been taken away from me, then given back, so that I felt as newly grateful as a reprieved lifer in Texas for the days and weeks ahead that were now free. I could go on holiday whenever I pleased and say yes to any social engagements without first checking a fixture list. And were it not for having a job and a family to look after, why, I could read or even write a book, or reproduce the Houses of Parliament in chain-stitch. The relief was as immense as when a very chatty drunk comes to sit next to you on the bus and you realise that it's your stop next.</p><p>You can get a lot done if you're not interested in sport, as Shakespeare would have told us. No prime minister has ever given himself entirely over to sport while still in office (it is said that as soon as John Major lost power he went to watch the cricket, and that Clement Attlee had a teleprinter put into Downing Street solely for the purpose of receiving cricket scores).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/comment.worldcup2006">Continue reading...</a>World Cup 2006FootballWorld CupTue, 06 Jun 2006 23:03:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/07/comment.worldcup2006Annalisa Barbieri2006-06-06T23:03:40Z